Title
The Challenge of Ecology to the Humanities: An Introduction
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-2016
Abstract
The introduction to The Challenge of Ecology to the Humanities: Posthumanism or Humanism? sketches out the ambiguous response of the humanities to the long-term anthropological thinking about the human as an ecological being from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the more recent constructivist worldviews typically discrediting biological thinking about humans as intrinsically “essentialist” and “nature” as cultural fabrication. The global ecological crisis, however, and an increasing awareness of the impact of human activity on the planet's ecosystems have forced the humanities to reassess such anthropological and biological assumptions. Recent strategies of the environmental humanities include either reformulating classic humanism with ecological frames or seeking alternative, “posthumanist” perspectives that avoid its inherent anthropocentrism. The special issue puts voices from historical, philosophical, and literary disciplines in dialogue with each other, with the goal of mapping out various possibilities for both the humanities and the environmental humanities.
Identifier
10.1215/0094033X-3511835
Publisher
Duke University Press
Repository Citation
Sullivan, H.I., & Malkmus, B.F. (2016). The challenge of ecology to the humanities: An introduction. New German Critique, 43(2(128)), 1-20. doi: 10.1215/0094033X-3511835
Publication Information
New German Critique